A Bolt from the Blue

Some phrases are so familiar that we rarely think about what they really mean.

“Out of the blue” is one of them. Does it have anything to do with sadness? No. “Blue” simply referred to the blue sky, not to sadness or emotion.

We use the phrase when something happens without warning. A forgotten friend calls. An unexpected opportunity appears. Life suddenly takes a different turn.

But the phrase has an older story.

Its earlier form was “a bolt from the blue,” with the earliest known uses dating to the 1800s. It described a sudden event appearing against a clear sky.

Later in the 19th century, “out of the blue” emerged as an idiom in its own right and eventually became the familiar expression we use today.

The original image of the sky is still there, even if we rarely notice it.

And now, after all this time, a bolt from the blue has become four ordinary words.

Until something happens out of the blue.

⌨ ᴛʸᵖⁱⁿᵍ ᴏᵘᵗ ᵒᶠ ᵗʰᵉ ʙˡᵘᵉ ᵈᵃʳᵉᵐ ᵐᵘˢⁱᶜ ᵇˡᵒᵍ